and republican presidential debates in new hampshire. they also ran into each other at a labor day parade in 2007. a campaign source cataloging the meetings tells cnn these are just two of the three times the candidates have ever seen each other in person. flash forward to 2012 one day before the debate. romney briefly stopped for lunch grabbing bued burritos at chipo >> people want to know who's going to win. who's going to score the punches? >> reporter: at a pre-debate rally in denver, romney seemed to down play reports that his campaign has prepped him with zingers to go after the president. >> it's not so much winning or losing or the people themselves, the president and myself, it's about something bigger than that. it will be a conversation with the american people that will span almost an entire month. >> reporter: romney aides say the gop nominee is adjusting debate tactics away from what worked with a handful of opponents on stage to a more one-on-one approach. >> there's one person on stage. it's done three nationally televise